Title: Unspoken Words

Genre: General/Romance

Pairings: Hakkaku/Amara (OC)

Rating: G

Summary: Hakkaku wonders what to do about his growing feelings for Amara.

Hakkaku stretched as the morning light awoke him from a pleasant dream. He and Ginta, along with other members of the pack, had opted to sleep outside since the weather had turned warmer. Walking into the main den behind the waterfall, he surveyed the few that had slept inside last night. At the back slept the pack's leader Kouga, and Ayame. The two had grown a lot closer the past month or so. Kouga had once fallen hard for Kagome, a human girl from another time, but recent events, as well as older ones, had brought him closer to Ayame.

It had all been because of Kagome's friend, Amara. She was from Kagome's time, but she was a wolf youkai, and a direct descendent of Kouga and Ayame themselves. When Kagome had discovered this, she had brought Amara to their time and Kouga had been thrilled that his pack would prosper. Amara was just as fast as Kouga, and was a welcome member amongst the pack.
Hakkaku looked over at Amara's bed, noticing it was empty. She had left the day before, saying she had some things to do back home, but promising to return in two days time. Only one more day, then she'll be back with us. Hakkaku thought. He and Ginta had been affected by Amara in a lot of ways. At first, she had been a friend; someone to hunt and joke around with. She was a strong and wise, a warrior who could hold her own against other demons, and a pack member who helped make wise decisions. Besides Ayame, she was the only female around Ginta and Hakkaku's age in the pack, and that had led to some problems between the two of them.

It had started out innocently enough; Kouga asked that Ginta and Hakkaku help Amara with her fighting skills, hunt with her, those types of things. Often both of them would go, but sometimes Kouga would only ask one of them. That's where the problems began. For the past couple of times, it was Hakkaku who had gone off with Amara. He was slightly bigger than Ginta and in Kouga's mind, he would be able to protect Amara during the long journey from the mountains to the well where she and Kagome went through time. This would often cause arguments between the two, but for the most part, they did as Kouga told them. Ginta got to spend his own time with Amara, since he helped her with her hunting skills. He was good with a knife and spear, so he was the one who taught Amara most of the time on how to hunt. It wasn't Hakkaku's fault that Kouga had chosen him to walk with Amara back to the well...at night...when the moon was out and everything looked romantic....

Hakkaku shook himself. He didn't want his feelings towards Amara to change. He liked being friends with her, but ever since Kouga had told him that he would be walking with her to the well when she left, he had begun to notice her differently. He noticed how graceful she was when she ran, how dark her hair was compared to her skin. He noticed how soft her voice was when it was just the two of them, how when she said his name it made his body shiver slightly and goose bumps appear on his arms. Not knowing at first what was wrong with him, he had gone to the only person he knew had some sort of understanding about time traveling women. Kagome.
He had gone off on his own to look for her. He found her in the village she and her friends would rest at during their quest to find the jewel shards like the ones Kouga had. He had been nervous at first, especially since Inuyasha demanded to know what he was doing there.

"I've come looking for Kagome-neesan. I have something I want to talk to her about."

"So Kouga sent you to do his dirty work, huh? Stupid wolf, can't do something by himself..."

"This has nothing to do with Kouga. I just want to ask Kagome some questions."

After Kagome had finally told Inuyasha to "lay off", whatever that meant, she and Hakkaku went into a nearby hut. She must have known he was nervous, since she smiled at him and asked him what he wanted to talk about.

"Well," he started, "it's about Amara-chan. I'm beginning to see her as more than a friend, and I'm not really sure what to do. I don't want do something wrong when I ask her to be my mate."

Kagome had told him that, even though it was nice he didn't want to do anything wrong when asking Amara, girls from her time weren't used to being asked to be someone's mate right off. "It's like this," she explained,"girls and guys from my time usually go out on dates before they ask someone to be their mates. Most humans call it marriage, and they usually don't jump into it right away." She saw that Hakkaku looked sort of dejected, for his shoulders slumped and he hung his head, but he did agree with her.

"Yeah, I remember how you were with Kouga when he first wanted you to be his mate. Wolves, and wolf demons for that matter, mate for life, and I wouldn't want Amara-chan to be unhappy with me. I just don't know how to go about making her my mate." Kagome grinned. "Basically, just do what you're doing now; being friends with her, but also try to show her how special she is to you, or do something extra nice. You don't have to act totally different around her, just try to show that you want to be more than friends with her and take it from there."
Hakkaku had done nice things for Amara, things he figured females would like. He bought her flowers from a nearby field, he made her a new necklace, as well as a new wolf pelt blanket. As for mentioning his feelings though, he wasn't quite ready for that. Every time he tried, it never came out quite right, so he had simply done nice things for her.

Hakkaku sighed. He wondered if he'd get enough courage to say it once she came back to the pack. It's not like he was afraid of telling her, he just wanted to do it and let Amara know he meant it.

He stopped short, forgetting how far he had journeyed while he was thinking. He was now close to the well, and decided he might as well rest up before heading back to the den. Still contemplating what to do about his situation with Amara, he didn't notice the deep sigh that came from inside the well. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his stomach, an embarrassed Amara on top of him.
"Hakkaku-kun! I'm so sorry, I didn't think anyone would be close to the well. Here, let me help you up." That proved to be something quite difficult, since Hakkaku was a bit heavier than Amara thought, and they both went down on the ground again, this time with Hakkaku on his back and Amara on top of him.

Hakkaku looked up into Amara's eyes and blushed. He was surprised to see a matching blush go across her cheeks, but helped her up quickly. "I didn't know you were coming back so soon, Amara-chan. I...I missed you." He was even further surprised when Amara wrapped her arms around him and gave him a huge hug. "I missed you too, Hakkaku-kun. I got finished with my stuff early and decided to come over here."

He lifted a backpack that Amara had dropped in the process of landing on him the first time and peeked inside it. Pocky, ramen, and chips were inside along with a small box shaped container that felt cold when Hakkaku touched it. "That's a freezer", Amara commented. "It's small enough to hold the drinks I packed and still be somewhat light on my back." She grinned and added, "Hey, that rhymed!" Walking away from the well, Hakkaku asked what all she had to do in her time. "Oh, a test and a couple of other things. My dad has to go back to America for a few days on business, so I had the important job of making sure he packed everything he needed. Mom's going with him, since some of her family lives there. I'm having the house all to myself in a couple of days. I think I should throw a party."

"Are you really going to do that?" Hakkaku asked. He knew that if she did, he wouldn't be able to go. Amara smiled at him, "Oh, probably not. I told them I'd just come here instead. There's not a lot of crime where we live, so I'm sure the house will be fine." This pleased Hakkaku. Maybe he could admit his feelings for her then, since she'd be able to stay longer than she usually could.
They were walking along when the sky began to grow dark. Neither of them had realized that it had gotten so late, and they weren't close to the den. Heavy drops of rain began to fall, and the two of them began to run as fast as they could, in hopes that they wouldn't get too wet. Hakkaku was behind Amara when he saw her slip. She fell, and when Hakkaku had caught up to her, he saw a cut along her leg. He looked around and noticed a small cave. If nothing else, they could stay there until the rain let up some. He kneeled on the ground in front of Amara. "Wrap your arms around my neck. I'll carry you to the cave." Doing as she was told, Amara held on tight as Hakkaku got up. He was strong, and with very little effort, carried Amara on his back until they reached the cave.

Inside, Hakkaku built a fire from leaves and other things he managed to find on the cave floor. He went back to where he had placed Amara, and saw that she had bandaged up her leg. She had gotten out some ramen and cooked it over the fire. Soon, they had a warm meal. They ate in silence, until Amara looked over at Hakkaku and smiled. "Thank you for carrying me." Hakkaku smiled, looking down at the ramen in his bowl. "I didn't know if you had hurt it badly or not, but I didn't want to chance you hurting it more." They continued eating, but Hakkaku kept sneaking glances at Amara. When he had finished, he walked over to the cave opening and held his bowl outside. When Amara had finished, he did the same for hers, then stretched out, resting his upper body on the back wall of the cave. Amara joined him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It looks like we're probably going to be here all night." Leaning over to get her backpack, she rummaged around until she found the pelt blanket that Hakkaku had made for her. It was big, so she draped it over the both of them. Hakkaku began to protest. "Amara-chan, I would rather you have your blanket. I don't want you getting cold." She smiled, but placed the blanket back over him. "Please, Hakkaku-kun? I don't want you getting cold either. Besides, it's big and soft and comfy."
He was going to argue more, but then Amara snuggled close to him, resting her head on his chest. He shifted a bit and wrapped his arm around her. He looked down at her, and seeing that she was looking back up at him, smiled. She jumped when a streak of lightning went across the sky. "Don't worry, Amara-chan," he said. "I'll always protect you."

Amara smiled at him before snuggling close to him again. She liked the feeling she had right now, the feeling of being safe and cared for. "Thank you, Hakkaku-kun." She eventually nodded off, but Hakkaku managed to stay awake a bit longer, occasionally poking at the fire to make sure it wouldn't go out.

He finally managed to fall asleep as dawn broke. This would mean that the cave wouldn't be too dark by the time they headed back to the den. He slept peacefully until Amara's voice woke him.

"Come on, Hakkaku-kun, time to wake up. Kouga's probably having a fit wondering where you are." Hakkaku stretched, and in his half asleep state, noticing Amara was pretty close to him, nuzzled his cheek against hers. He pulled back and noticed Amara blushing; that's when the realization of what he just did dawned on him. Hakkaku's blush practically spread over his entire body, but Amara just smiled at him and nuzzled him back. They packed up Amara's things and headed back towards the den. This time, they walked along holding hands.

Next Chapter: Can Ginta and Hakkaku's friendship survive the competition for Amara's heart?